“Vi Är Finnjävlar” is the latest single by Drug Store Raid, an outstanding Finland group based in Helsinki. It’s their second piece of work this year, serving as an adequate follow-up of “Your Mother,” another excellent track released earlier this year that you should check as soon as possible. The song arrives as the first taster of “Background Music For Family Arguments,” their forthcoming full-length album, slated for release on 15th November 2024. Lyrically, “Vi Är Finnjävlar” deals with the pressure and anxiety of today’s generation. Their sarcastic, satirical, but also serious approach to these themes will undoubtedly resonate with the broader auditorium, as they present a very relatable theme through highly engaging music. Soundwise, the band combines many different but complementary music genres to illustrate such a rich and luxurious sound. Perhaps post-punk comes to mind first, but you’ll notice how some of the finest properties borrowed from punk rock, garage rock, noise rock, alternative, and indie rock found their way into this sonic equation. They use all these additional elements as more than necessary decorations, accentuations, and enhancements to uplift their latest song to an entirely new level while remaining loyal to the primary sonic direction. Therefore, these experimentations with many different but complementary music genres resulted in a magnificent song that will unquestionably appeal to all true post-punk fans and beyond.
As soon as you press play, you’ll notice their raw, abrasive, powerful, and aggressive sound. The band shapes such an intricate atmosphere by gradually introducing layers of different instrumentations. Drug Store Raid thought about everything, so you’ll notice how this song has a perfect structure, garnered with many detailed segments, brilliant ideas, and exceptional musicianship. Each vocal, sonic, and rhythmic maneuver plays a significant role and contributes to the overall listening experience. The rhythm section acts as a backbone of the entire track with cleverly assembled beats, breaks, fills, and other percussive acrobatics, keeping the remainder of the band in line while dictating groove and tempo. In the meantime, the equally complex, vividly hearable, warm-sounding basslines rumble around, offering more than necessary heaviness, clarity, and depth while binding drums with the remainder of the orchestrations. You’ll also notice various saxophone improvisations, experimentations, and accentuations, but also more uniform melodies, harmonies, and other sonic maneuvers lurking around, contributing to the experimental and avant-garde properties of this track. These clever acrobatics unquestionably give a whole new perspective on post-punk as a genre, and it’s one of those details that brings versatility, freshness, and uniqueness.
The guitars reign supreme with cleverly arranged interplays that undoubtedly serve as a perfect backdrop for all the vocals to shine upon. You’ll hear a comprehensive collection of raw, abrasive, fuzzy, heavily distorted chord progressions, riffs, harmonies, melodies, themes, and leads struggling for dominance over each other. These instrumentations give even more rawness, heaviness, aggression, and power, making this track a catchy, engaging, and memorable listening experience. Of course, “Vi Är Finnjävlar” wouldn’t sound this good without excellent vocal performance. The impressive vocal range commands attention and guides listeners with a perfect combination of clean and raw articulations. The seamless balance between low, mid, and high notes complements and emphasizes all the segments and instrumentations. Everything sounds top-notch from scratch to finish, and you’ll hear how these profoundly talented musicians poured all their experience, knowledge, creativity, and ideas into this track. Their experimentation and willingness to break all the rules and push boundaries of so many longevous music genres goes beyond comprehension so many times during the entire track. “Vi Är Finnjävlar” is a post-punk masterpiece worth spinning over and over again. The single is available on all streaming platforms. Don’t miss it!
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